No Place Like You : A Short Story

11.

Author's note: YALL! YALL! OUR BIG TEDDY BEAR, OUR SWEET BOY, OUR ROMANIAN ZADDY TURNED 29 ON THE 13th. Ugh! God bless him 😩💕. Why's his face so perfect? Wtf?!

Okay here we go lol.

There was no denying Bria was madly in love with Florian, although she played it down to anyone who asked she was genuinely invested– maybe even infatuated with the man.

After their stay together, she found herself thinking of him more often than she'd like to admit. They communicated daily in some way or another but the long distance wasn't as torturous as either of them expected. There was stability in security and trust and they'd both found that in one another so they rarely ever worried about who the other was with. They were both extremely social people and it did them no good to worry about such trivial things– though it took Florian a little longer to grasp this than Bria.

In the four months  he'd been back in Germany, his thoughts frequently drifted to the future he saw himself having with Bria. Being around her and feeling her presence everyday just felt right. He was eager to see her again which is why his knee constantly bounced on his nine and half hour flight from Munich to Detroit. The day after tomorrow was her father's birthday party. He was kind of nervous about meeting her family even though he felt slighted when it seemed like she didn't want that to happen. Bria had been preparing him for a couple of weeks; telling him who was who and how to handle each one of her family members. They were a colorful bunch, from what he'd learned.

Her divorcée aunts Tracey and Vanessa would certainly try to flirt with him and he could humor them if he liked but if they touched him, Bria demanded to know. They were the "messy aunties" but somehow Bria's favorites.

Her mother already liked him. They got along well  and had spoken via three-way call a couple of times after their initial FaceTime meeting. Ms. Nikki seemed to be the one who always told it like it was– sometimes embarrassing Bria in the process but she meant no harm. She just wanted Florian to know that he had a positive impact on her daughter.

Bria's father was a different case. It was almost like military training the way she prepped Florian for that meeting. She'd made such a big deal about it that he now sat on his flight trying to remember her stepdad's likes and dislikes. He was extremely protective of her and although he could be friendly, his kindness wasn't usually extended to her partners– not for a long time. One wrong remark from Florian could get him in trouble...and as stated by Bria, her dad wasn't above starting shit, even at his own party.

Florian scrolled through his phone, looking at the pictures Bria sent of her family members who'd be at the gathering– smiling at the photo of her and her 12-year old cousin, Christian, who'd be excited to meet him since he was such a fan of Creed II.

"That your family? They're lovely." The older woman inquired, leaning over the wide armrest that separated their business class seats.

He thought about saying yes just for the hell of it but then she'd probably ask other questions he couldn't answer. He wasn't much of an embellisher.

"Uh...no, my girlfriend and her cousin. I'm going to visit her family." He nodded and grinned.

The woman eyed him curiously before speaking again.

"For the first time, huh?" She took notice of his knee that still bounced, just barely tapping the seat in front of him.

Florian nodded, lowly chuckling at himself. He didn't think it was that obvious.

"Don't worry. They'll like you. You seem like a nice young man."

Florian thanked her, deciding to make small talk and entertain her questions about his relationship. He didn't mind one bit. She was actually the first person outside of his closest friends and family he could tell about Bria. Keeping his happiness private was easier said than done especially when he wanted the world to know Bria was all his.